Plenty of fall fun at fairgrounds Saturday

Four events, one day, one location. This Saturday at the Washakie County Fairgrounds, Wyo Giants will be hosting the annual Giant Pumpkin Weigh Off and Pumpkin Drop, the Worland-Ten Sleep Chamber of Commerce hosts Oktoberfest, Perla Matamoros hosts her annual fall craft show (see related story) and Washakie County 4-H hosts their community pancake breakfast.

Most of the events will be in the food court area, with a few events in the rodeo arena and the craft show in the two main buildings.

OKTOBERFEST

Participants at this year’s Oktoberfest will not want to miss the pumpkin tasting competition. Registration for the event ended Monday. There are three categories — sweet, savory and anything goes. There will be first place prizes for each category. For those who entered, entries must be dropped off by 10 a.m. Saturday at Washakie County Fairgrounds. People can purchase a people’s choice ticket to try all the dishes and vote on their favorite. 

Along with the pumpkin tasting competition there will also be a brat eating competition.

Oktoberfest officially kicks off Friday with a free concert at 6 p.m. Will and the Thrills out of Cody is an 80s to now rock band splashed with a bit of country. Rattlesnake Ridge of Worland is a country/classic rock band. In addition to music, organizer Caryn Harding said, “There will be a pumpkin patch, coffee and other hot drinks as well as fire pits with s’mores.”

Eating contests are open to all ages with sign up starting Friday night.

Saturday the pumpkin tasting is at 11 a.m.; pumpkin pie eating contest at 11:30 a.m., brat eating contest at noon.

The tug-of-war contest will be at 1:30 p.m. in the arena. The crowning of the royalty, a king, queen, prince and princess, will be at 2:30 p.m. in the arena.

Other activities include an all-day bouncy house maze and a root beer garden for the kids, keg toss, brat toss, stein maze for those 21 and older. 

There will be a fee for the kids bouncy house maze and the tug-of-war competition. Tug-of-war teams cannot exceed 1,500 pounds. All the other games are free. Every game, besides the kids activities and the Stein maze, accepts all ages.  

There will be a memory tent set up with things from the past. Beer steins for this year will be for sale at the chamber booth and come full of beer.

GIANT PUMPKINS

Also at the Fairgrounds on Saturday is the annual Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off and Pumpkin Drop, hosted by Wyo Giants. This is the only Great Pumpkin Commonwealth sanctioned event in Wyoming. This is the sixth year the event has been sanctioned. Being sanctioned means the scale has to be certified so any records made on Saturday can be official, organizer Jay Richard explained.

Registration runs from 8 to 10 a.m. There is an entry fee per item per category. The limit is one entry per category per person or two per household. There will be prizes for field pumpkins, giant pumpkins, watermelon, giant zucchini, giant squash and the prettiest pumpkin. From 9 to 11:30 a.m. will be guess the weight/prettiest pumpkin voting. The weigh offs will begin at 11 a.m. and end at 1 p.m. At approximately 2:30 p.m., the awards will be presented.

New this year is a youth division for 12 and under for pumpkins and zucchini, sponsored by Tractor Guys, according to Richard.

Richard said they average about 20 competitors, everything from 50 pounds to more than 1,000 pounds.

He said a grower, Chad Kurcenbach in Lovell has one measuring via tape to be about 1,300 pounds.

While the giant pumpkins are a fan favorite, Richard said the zucchini entries have grown from 12 the first year to about 25 entries last year.

“The idea is that everyone has a giant zucchini in their garden they forgot to pick,” Richard said.

Jay’s Giants have had a tough year, Richard said. “We had 68 days between the last frost and the first frost. That’s not enough time. That is not an excuse but it has been a very difficult year.”

That said Richard’s pumpkin named Jan went to Utah last weekend and weighed in at 1,285 pounds, taking fifth in that competition. Jan will have the honor of being dropped this year.

Richard is also bringing his pumpkin Marsha, his smallest giant at about 800 pounds. Cindy is being left on the vine in hopes of gaining weight and making a trip this fall to Fort Collins.

Following closely after the awards will be the giant pumpkin drop in the fairgrounds arena. This is the first year it will be in the arena, Richard said. The move is being made for safety reasons to ensure the public is far enough away when the pumpkins drop and splatter.

This year’s main giant pumpkin, Jan, will be dropped on a large Wile E. Coyote holding an umbrella just like in the cartoon. Other pumpkins will be dropped on other items, possibly a washing machine, Richard said, depending on the number of pumpkins able to be dropped.

The drop will take place no earlier than 2:30 p.m. depending on the number of entries for the weigh-in.

This will be the second year the fairgrounds have been used for the giant pumpkin drop, according to Richard. The location works well, noting last year there was a couple thousand people in attendance. The fairgrounds is the location with the most room to date for the event.

Originally the event was located at Pioneer Square with smaller crowds; however, it quickly moved locations throughout the years as interest grew, Richard said. They have also been located at Big Horn Cooperative and Diesel Pickup Specialist.

He emphasized that there is no charge to attend the event, concessions and booths,

“If it weren’t for the generous donation of our sponsors this event would not happen,” Richard said.

One of the main sponsors that make the giant pumpkin drop happen is Swing Trucking and Crane Service with their 175-foot crane. “Nowhere else would that happen except Worland, Wyoming that we could get a crane company come in on their own because they like to do it and want to give back to the community. That’s huge for the drop.”

The main point he would like to convey to the public is the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off is a participation event for everyone.

“I struggle with people that say their pumpkin is too small and wouldn’t win so they don’t enter. Get over the part you might not win, bring it, little one, big one, it’s about participating,” Richard said. Growers are able to network with other growers, find out what is working and what is not.

“That’s where the real magic happens,” Richard said of the camaraderie and networking among growers.

“Field pumpkin, giant pumpkin, it doesn’t matter, bring it and we’ll weigh it up,” he said.

PANCAKE BREAKFAST

Also at the fairgrounds is the annual kick off to Washakie County 4-H Week with the free community pancake breakfast from 9 to 11 a.m.